Strategy Buys 1,036 BTC, Spends $188.3M on STRC Buybacks
Strategy put more than twice as much MSTR sale money into STRC buybacks as into bitcoin last week: $188.3M versus $81.9M for 1,036 BTC. Holdings reached 850,364 BTC at a $75,456 average cost, with BTC trading near $74,800.
Strategy spent $188.3 million buying back its own STRC preferred stock in the week ended Nov. 8, more than twice the $81.9 million it put into bitcoin, according to a Form 8-K the company filed on Monday.
The money came from selling 2,051,348 MSTR Class A shares through its at-the-market program, which raised $283.8 million net of commissions between Nov. 2 and Nov. 8. About 66% of that went to retiring 1,887,464 STRC shares. The $81.9 million bought 1,036 BTC at an average of $79,012 including fees, and $13.6 million went to USD Cash.
The announcement kept it short:
"Strategy has acquired 1,036 $BTC and repurchased $188M of $STRC."
Michael Saylor
Holdings now stand at 850,364 BTC, acquired for about $64.16 billion, or $75,456 per coin. That average cost is the number to watch. Bitcoin traded near $74,800 after the disclosure, which values the stack at roughly $63.6 billion, slightly under cost.
The buyback is about defending a price band. Saylor said in a September presentation that Strategy aims to keep STRC between $99 and $100, selling new shares above $100 and buying back below. STRC touched $100 on Nov. 4, but it closed that day at $99.98 and finished under $100 every session of the week. The repurchases work out to an average of roughly $99.76 a share.
No sales of STRF, STRC, STRK or STRD showed up in the filing, and no MSTR repurchases either. Weekly 8-Ks show no STRC sold since mid-May, and the $17.51 billion of STRC at-the-market capacity sits untouched. About $560.3 million remains under the preferred repurchase program, down from $748.6 million a week earlier. The $1 billion MSTR buyback authorization is also unused.
The prior week ran the same play: 811 BTC for $65.5 million, against $208.2 million of STRC repurchased with USD Cash. Add the two filings together and it is $396.5 million on STRC versus $147.4 million on bitcoin.
What it means
For traders, the read is simple: new MSTR equity is currently funding preferred support more than spot bitcoin demand. That trims the marginal bid Strategy provides to BTC while it defends the STRC band.
The company still keeps a cushion, with a USD Reserve of $4.77 billion and USD Cash of $146.2 million, about $4.9 billion in total. Of the reserve, $21.1 million paid preferred dividends.
Buybacks do reduce shares entitled to dividends, but Strategy did not disclose annual savings. By Saylor's own playbook, STRC has to trade above $100 before the switch flips from buying back to issuing. Until then, expect common stock to keep paying for the defense, with bitcoin getting what is left.
